So Bitcoin is trading like a tumbling tech stock this week, but how about that Coinbase? It’s now down about 84% since debuting a bit over a year ago.

There are rocked tech shareholders just about everywhere you turn at the moment, but Coinbase was one of the worst hit stocks yesterday. COIN plummeted close to 30 per cent after the company posted a loss of US$430 million for the first quarter in its May earnings report, released on Tuesday.

The stock sunk as low as about US$50 yesterday (it’s currently trading at just under US$54). A week ago it was sitting above US$130, and even that was a long way off last year’s peak of US$381 – a brief zenith upon IPO listing.

Brian Armstrong, the crypto exchange giant’s CEO, sought to reassure investors that it’s a buy, though. He suggested that short-term market trauma can offer “fire sale prices”, quoting US venture capitalist Fred Wilson.

The firm’s been playing the US$430m downturn with a pretty straight bat in general. On an earnings call this week Coinbase CFO Alesia Haas addressed concerns about the company’s spending, including recent hiring of 1,200 employees.

“We can choose profitability over investment in the business, but we chose investment in the business,” said Haas.

The latest Coinbase shareholders’ letter (see snippet below) also emphasised a focus on a long-term strategy that prioritises building for the future and “investing prudently”, concluding with the meme-ish “wagmi” (we’re all gonna make it).

Wagmi, eh? Nice timing.

Coinbase’s SEC filing stirs the pot amid bankruptcy headlines

There’s something else, too, that most likely contributed to COIN’s cliff dive yesterday. And that’s headlines suggesting Coinbase could face the risk of bankruptcy, with its 98 million customers in danger of losing all their crypto.

In a series of tweets, Armstrong addressed these fears, which stemmed from a recent US Securities and Exchange Commission filing. “Your funds are safe at Coinbase, just as they’ve always been,” posted the Coinbase CEO.

In the SEC filing Coinbase had referred to customers as “unsecured creditors” in the event that the crypto exchange becomes insolvent.

Armstrong continued to reassure on Twitter, however, writing that the company is at “no risk of bankruptcy” despite the filing, which he explained was merely an SEC compliancy measure.

Armstrong also added a contrite note, writing: “We should have updated our retail terms sooner, and we didn’t communicate proactively when this risk disclosure was added. My deepest apologies, and a good learning moment for us as we make future changes.”

 

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